Social Work

The undergraduate social work program at Austin Peay State University reflects the
faculty’s concern to fill a need for compassionate, ethical, knowledgeable and skilled
generalist social workers who are committed to practice in the aid of vulnerable and
oppressed groups and advance human rights. The program seeks to provide an educational
experience which opens students’ minds and hearts to social work’s historical commitment
to social betterment, peace and justice.

Through holding high the vision and purposes of social work, the program aims to inspire
students to be proactive as generalist social workers in building a more just and
equitable future in which access to life sustaining resources and opportunity structures
is not thwarted by one’s race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic
class, age, culture, religion or disability.

The programs focuses on educating generalist practitioners who build on the strengths
and resources of people and their environments, engage in advocacy, and use empowerment
as a guiding principle toward achieving personal, interpersonal, social and economic
justice. With and through its graduates, the program strives to contribute to the
uplifting and well-being of people in our respective communities as well as the profession
itself.

Graduates who honor diversity, uphold the highest ethical standards and practice the
creative art of blending social work knowledge, values, and skills in the helping
process are the program’s greatest hope for the future.

The program’s mission embraces not only the art, heart and conscience of social work
but also the central importance of research-guided knowledge and problem-solving in
nurturing the science of social work. Educating graduates who value research and
use a reasoned approach for assessing, intervening, and evaluating practice outcomes
related to planned change forms a significant aspect of the program’s mission. In
this manner, the program seeks to increase the work force of generalist social workers
engaging in accountable, empirically-based practice, knowledge building and sharing
of their own practice wisdom.

The program’s mission also recognizes the mounting impact of information technology
on how social workers work and the implications for lifelong learning. The program
seeks to strengthen social workers’ use of information technology by graduating students
who have a good foundation of information literacy competencies upon which to build
and lead as “next generation” twenty-first century practitioners.

Rapidly advancing technology and the knowledge explosion have tremendous significance
for lifelong learning. Both sharply influence not only what is to be learned but
also how. Influencing a commitment to lifelong learning is integral to the program’s
mission of “passing the torch” effectively and enriching the future of social work
in our region.

In summary, the program’s mission is to advance the presence of professional social
work and strengthen social work practice in the region and respective communities
where graduates choose to work. It is a mission of educating students to build on
the strengths and resources of people and their environments, engage in advocacy and
use empowerment as a guiding principle toward achieving personal, interpersonal, social
and economic justice. The mission is linked to a broader purpose of promoting human
well-being and social betterment.